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Joel Oppenheimer
| death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = | language = | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Cornell University, Black Mountain College | period = | genre = poetry | subject = | movement = Black Mountain poets | notableworks = | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} Joel Lester Oppenheimer (Jacob Hammer) (February 18, 1930 - October 11, 1988) was an American poet associated with both the Black Mountain poets and the New York School. Life Oppenheimer was born in Yonkers, New York. He attended Cornell University for a year in 1948, then spent less than a full semester at the University of Chicago. In 1950 he enrolled at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he studied with Paul Goodman and poet Charles Olson, became friends with Fielding Dawson and Ed Dorn, and worked in the school's print shop. While at Black Mountain, Oppenheimer met and married his 1st wife, Rena Furlong. He left the school in January 1953 without taking a degree, eventually settling in New York City and working in a print shop while continuing to write poetry. His satiric Western drama The Great American Desert was the 1st play produced by Robert Nichols, directed by Lawrence Kornfeld, who had been with the Living Theatre, at the Judson Poets' Theatre. It opened on November 18, 1961. Oppenheimer was the original director of the St. Mark's Poetry Project, serving from 1966 to 1972.Joel Oppenheimer, 58, A Columnist and Poet, New York Times, October 13, 1988. Web, Nov. 16, 2012. Oppenheimer died at 58 of lung cancer in Henniker, New Hampshire. Writing In his earliest poetry, Oppenheimer shows clearly the influence of William Carlos Williams, but he soon developed his own style. Though primarily a poet, Oppenheimer was perhaps better known for his columns in the Village Voice from 1969 to 1984, 92 of which were posthumously collected and published in 1997 as Drawing from Life. Library Journal wrote that Drawing from Life "emphasizes several favorite themes: baseball, politics, and the role of the changing seasons in our lives". Recognition Don’t Touch the Poet: The life and times of Joel Oppenheimer, by Lyman Gilmore, was published by Talisman Press in 1998. Oppenheimer's Collected Later Poems were published in 1997, and a Selected Poems in 2017. Publications Poetry * The Dancer (originally published as Jargon, no. 2, 1951). Highlands, NC: Sad Devil Press at Black Mountain College, 1951. * The Dutiful Son: Poems. Jonathan Williams, 1956; New York: Totem Press / Paterson Society, 1961. * The Love Bit, and other poems. New York: Totem Press / Corinth Books, 1962. *''The Great American Desert''. New York: Grove Press, 1966. *''Sirventes on a Sad Occurrence''. Madison, WI: Perishable Press, 1967. *''In Time: Poems, 1962-1968''. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1969. *''On Occasion: Some births, deaths, weddings, birthdays, holidays, and other events: Poems''. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973. * The Woman Poems. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1975. * Just Friends / Friends and Lovers: Poems, 1959-1962. Highlands, NC: Jargon Society, 1980. *''Houses''. Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, 1981. *''At Fifty: A poem''. Laurinburg, NC: Saint Andrews Press, 1982. * New Spaces: Poems, 1975-1983. Santa Barbara, CA: Black Sparrow, 1985. * Why Not. Fredonia, NY: White Pine Press, 1987. *''Names & Local Habitations: Selected earlier poems, 1951-1972'' (edited by Jonathan Williams). Winston-Salem, NC: Jargon Society, 1988. *''Collected Later Poems'' (edited with introduction by Robert J. Bertholf; illustrated by John Dobbs). Buffalo, NY : Poetry/Rare Books Collection, University Libraries, SUNY at Buffalo, 1997. *''Lessons: Selected poems'' (edited by Dennis Maloney). Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, 2017. Short fiction *''Pan's Eyes: Stories''. Amherst, MA: Mulch Press, 1974. Non-fiction * The Wrong Season, (about the New York Mets). Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973. * Marilyn Lives! (on Marilyn Monroe). New York: Delilah Books, 1981. * Drawing from Life (edited by Robert Bertholf & Donald Landry). Wakefield, RI: Asphodel Press, 1997. Collected editions *''Poetry, the Ecology of the Soul: Talks and selected poems'' (edited by David Landrey; Dennis Maloney). Buffalo, NY: White Pine Press, 1983. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Joel Oppenheimer, WWorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 22, 2018. See also *Black Mountain poets *List of U.S. poets References Fonds * Joel Oppenheimer Papers at the University of Connecticut Notes External links ;Poems *Joel Oppenheimer at the Poetry Foundation ;Books *Joel Oppenheimer at Amazon.com * ;About * "Joel Oppenheimer, 58, A Columnist and Poet", New York Times obituary. Category:1930 births Category:1988 deaths Category:People from Yonkers, New York Category:American poets Category:Black Mountain College alumni Category:Black Mountain poets Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Jewish American writers Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Jewish poets Category:Poets